


In Terms Of Power And Freedom

by AsagiStilinski



Series: Pridecember 2019 [19]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - BDSM, Cameos, Dom Kaiba Seto, Dom Yami Yuugi | Atem, Dom/sub, M/M, Meet-Cute, Sub Kaiba Seto, Switching, Yu-Gi-Oh! Pridecember 2019, sorta - Freeform, sub Yami Yuugi | Atem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22196281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Relationships: Atem/Kaiba Seto
Series: Pridecember 2019 [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1560421
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	In Terms Of Power And Freedom

There are no hard and fast rules to BDSM- not aside from the standard Safe, Sane, Consensual

Other than that, there are... _suggestions_ , regularities, common acts of courtesy or etiquette, but aide from that one basic rule of consent, anything could go at any time and between anyone

This was possibly the hardest thing for Seto to learn when he got into the scene

Seto came from a corporate world, a business world, where having hard and fast rules just came with the territory, where everything followed patterns

It was predictable and steady and it was easy to spot a newbie or someone who wasn't good at what they were doing

Easy to read people based on very basic tells, easy to judge, to measure, to predict

If you could read someone and you knew the game, then you had everything you needed to be a success

BDSM was not like business

Hell, BDSM wasn't like anything Seto had ever had the pleasure of dealing with before- not even remotely

And everytime he thought he had it figured out, a curveball was thrown in his path

Enter Atem- the world's prettiest curveball

At first, Seto made the mistake of believing that he was easy to read too

He was beautifull and commanded the crowd around him, he was well wanted and he walked into the club dressed in leather with heavy gothic jewlry and high heels

He had a sub on the ground within seconds and laughed with pure unadulterated joy in a way that made Seto's heart seize up

....

But Seto wasn't looking for a dom so he disregarded him- or, tried to anyway, it didn't really work

The next time he saw Atem was drastically different

He was wearing lingerie- a corset and panties and stockings, all in white and pink, not really his colors if Seto was being honest, but atleast the silletos were still there, even if they were pink this time

And he was following someone else, a blonde with a thick American accent, and he-.... dropped to the ground and let the blonde run his fingers through that wild blonde/red/black hair of his....

He let the blonde do alot more than just that too

Seto had been so distracted that he hadn't even gone looking for anyone himself that night

He really didn't know what to make of it all

He didn't know how to process it...

The next three times he saw Atem he was wearing leather

The fourth time after he saw him in the lace again

What. The. Fuck?

"You seem distracted,"

Glancing over his shoulder at the tiny brunette next to him, Seto exhaled, trying to look... well... _less_ distracted....

"Just.... curious about something," he replied vaguely, crossing his arms over his chest and rocking onto the balls of his feet as he glanced over at Atem and the blonde he was currently straddling

Dammit....

If Atem was going to sub for someone, Seto wanted it to be for _him_

"I think you mean curious about some _one_ ," his companion teased playfully, her eyes sparkling with knowing

Seto wanted to gag

She wasn't wrong though....

"It's not what you think,"

"Oh, it isn't?" she scoffed, clearly not believing him

"It isn't," Seto repeated, shifting uncomfortably again and glancing back down at the tiny brunette beside him

"I don't get it... I don't... get _him_... some nights he doms, some nights he subs, what the hell is he doing?"

"Switching,"

Oh.. that... was a much quicker and more certain answer than Seto had expected...

"Excuse me?" he asked slowly, eyebrows raised as the domme next to him hopped onto the barstool behind her and elegantly crossed one leg over the other, her thigh-high boots a dark contrast against her otherwise pale skin, matching with her raven black hair

"Wow, you really haven't been doing this long have you?"

"Long enough," Seto snipped back

The girl rolled her eyes- if Seto didn't know better he would have said it was out of _pity_

"A switch is someone who both doms _and_ subs, they're more common than you think,"

"But... why would someone want both?"

Wasn't the entire point of a powerplay relationship to get a specific need satisfied?

If someone had the need for both......

That didn't make any sense to him

" _That_ I can't answer, I'm not a switch myself and neither is my sub, neither of us quite get it, but presumably it's in part mood driven, someone who likes domming and prefers that most of the time but has a particularly bad day and needs the release of submission, someone who usually can find peace in submission but gets too high-strung and feeling powerless so needs to dominate for the night, some people don't really have a preference to begin with and just like to be kinky so the power aspect isn't really interesting to them to begin with- or it is, but it's more of a perk than a need,"

Seto couldn't understand that

He didn't get it

He couldn't imagine wanting to submit, having that need in combination with his need to dominate, his need to feel in control, his need to take care of someone and feel like he was..... worth something.....

He didn't get it

"You keep checking him out, maybe you should just ask him,"

"No... he doesn't submit nearly as often as he doms and when he _does_ sub it's always for the same guy, evidently,"

His freind shrugged, seemingly non-plussed by his hesitation

"Well if you'd atleast like to learn more about switching, I do know a couple who does it often,"

"Why would I want to learn more about switching? I'm not interested," Seto frowned

"....Sure you're not,"

The snort attached to the end of that sentence was unnecessary in Seto's opinion

~+~

"Why do we switch?"

If someone had asked him six months ago if it was possible to have a serious, business-esque conversation with a man in lingerie and Loubittons wile he carded his fingers through the hair of another man, who was laying in his lap, also in lingerie and tied up in intricate shibari, Seto would have said "no"

Seto would have been wrong, evidently

"Well... there are a few reasons..." the dom began slowly, shifting a little as his black-gloved fingers continued to thread through the silver hair of his sub, who seemed more than content to simply relax in his lap, blindfolded and seeming content

"I admit that most of the time I prefer to dom but it's... I guess a 70/30 split? Maybe 60/40... I'm not sure... I've never been great at measurements... but... well, I'm not a very confident person,"

 _Yes, I can tell_ , Seto thought, but he refrained from saying it

"I feel at ease when I dominate, I feel confident and at peace, I feel wanted and trusted and loved... and Viktor really likes to submit, so it's good for us, but... I also have an anxiety disorder, sometimes the.... the pressure is just too much, the voices are too loud... I break, so Viktor breaks me harder so that there's nothing left, then builds me back up from scratch, stronger than before and comfortable again, submission isn't a craving so much as a necessity, if that makes sense? I don't often _want_ to submit, but I do sometimes _need_ to, and in Viktor's hands I still feel every bit as wanted and loved as I do when I dominate him,"

Seto could understand that, he supposed, want versus need, he compared it to the difference between drinking coffee because he liked it versus drinking water because he needed it

He wasn't sure if that was accurate, but it sounded close to what the dom- the... _switch_ \- was describing to him

"And your partner?"

"I'm a bit of the opposite," the silver-haired beauty- Viktor, evidently- replied, not bothering to move or shift away from the attention he was receiving

"I'm not really sure if I _need_ either... I want them both though, I'm a pretty independent person but that isn't really by choice, it just ended up that way, I've been alone for quite a long time, so when Yuri came along.. it was like drinking from the fountain of life after spending most of my years wandering a desert, I need _him_ , I'm not sure if I would submit to anyone else, I think I'm a little too... I don't know if I can trust people that easily, I don't think I would feel at ease about it.... but I trust Yuri with my life, and even beyond that, so letting go and being able to feel like I'm not alone in the most consuming and visceral ways possible is outstandingly pleasurable for me, it's very soothing, but I was a dom before I met Yuri and I do still like dominating, it's fun, it's relaxing, it's pleasurable, and I _deeply_ enjoy taking care of people, I was always a bit of a service dom, I'm more into caretaking than, say, sadism, but I do very much like the control aspect as well, feeling needed, feeling that.... power rush of knowing that someone trusts me, that I'm keeping them safe from harm, that they're _mine_... that hasn't gone away, and when Yuri allows me the privilege of dominating him, I feel that more strongly than ever, as I know that taking care of him is helping him on so much more than just a surface level,"

"...Right..." Seto muttered quietly

He supposed he understood it on a surface level then, atleast, that sometimes it was want versus need, or satisfying someone else before yourself, or that sometimes it was more about health and other times more about pleasure...

But on a deeper level, the desire for it still evaded him

He thanked them both for their time and openness all the same before rising from his chair and making his mind up to just go _ask_ the man in question

No one would know Atem better than Atem, right?

Well... in theory...

So he took a deep breath, kept his throat clear, and marched towards him

He was in leather again tonight, thigh-high boots and a leather corset, black panties and leather gloves, dressed down more than usual, contrasting against the plainer clothes that Seto sported- black dress pants and a black dress shirt, nothing more, nothing fancier

Ironically he tended to save his fancier clothes for casual wear and business attire, preferring to be simple and elegant when he was at the club

"You're Atem, aren't you?"

Glancing up from the cocktail he was drinking, the stranger's eyebrows raised, a nearly predatory smirk crossing in delight over his features

"That's me,"

"Can I talk to you?"

"Ah.... sure...?"

Great, he was talking to him.... now Seto just wasn't sure what to say....

"Why do you switch?"

There you go, blunt as a hammer, as per usual

Atem looked momentarily stunned by that question, eyebrows raising, before he cleared his throat and began his answer

"Well... typically I prefer to dominate, I like knowing that I'm needed, I like to take care of people, to know I'm doing something good, that I'm helping someone, but on occasion I do prefer not to be in control, though I would prefer to keep the reasons for that to myself for the time being,"

Now that struck Seto by surprise

Sure, he was used to people keeping secrets in this kind of place, it would be far more surprising if they didn't, in all honesty, but the other couple had both been so open, and Atem had been open about why he dominated....

Now Seto's curiosity was well and truly peaked

"Do you only sub for one person? I've only ever seen you doing it with that blonde,"

Atem's lips quirked up, seeming to stifle a giggle

"Jou? Ah... no, it just so happens that he's a switch too, whereas his partner is only a dom, so when Jou feels the need to dominate-"

"You provide the opportunity," Seto guessed

Atem's lips quirked up into a grin- Seto took it as an affirmative

"Good guess," Atem winked playfully

"So do you sub for anyone then? Anyone who's compatible with you, I mean,"

Atem's eyes gleamed and Seto felt a slight.... _thrill_ go through him, as the beautifull man leaned in closer, gently curving his foot behind Seto's leg and sliding it down the back of his calf

Oh god... Seto felt _weak_....

"Only people I trust,"

Ah... Seto really couldn't blame him for that

"Right, and... how do you... come to trust someone?" he asked slowly, his voice raspy, his face heating with a blush as he stared down at the nearly predatory grin that fell across Atem's face

"I get to know them, either outside of the scene... or inside it,"

"In..side...?"

Atem nodded slowly, resting his cheek casually on his palm as he stared up expectingly at Seto, practically batting his lashes

Damn, Seto felt more hot and bothered just from this than he had in ages over... _anything_....

What was happening?

"Do you want to get to know me? I'd hardly mind,"

"You'd waste your night just... talking to me?" Seto asked skeptically

"Hardly a waste if I enjoy your company," Atem noted, twirling a few strands of blonde hair between his fingers as he stared up at Seto, as though waiting for something

Seto could hardly stand being beneath that intense gaze, he was squirming, but not out of displeasure, quite the opposite in fact...

"But I'm a dom, you don't sub very often... right? So wouldn't it be like.... playing a long game for a short victory?"

Atem visibly stifled a laugh, biting into his lip

"You must be a businessman,"

"Guilty as charged,"

Grin widening, Atem only shook his head, reaching out to gently take Seto's hand

"The only 'game' we would be playing is something kinky, and I promise you that I have _alot_ of those in store... but I don't play with people's hearts or emotions, just because I prefer to dom, that doesn't mean I couldn't be persuaded to switch more often if I came to like you enough,"

"Really?" Seto asked in surprise, watching Atem nod in agreement

"Really, now, would you like to go someplace more... private, to get to know eachother?"

"Even though you don't know me very well yet?" Seto frowned, watching Atem suppress another snicker

"Who said I'd be subbing?"

Ahh....

The way Atem looked at him, the way Seto's heart rammed against his ribcage....

Maybe... just _maybe_... it wouldn't hurt to try switching himself, just... just this once.....

(Spoiler alert: It happened _far_ more than "once")


End file.
